GUEST POST We all like the idea of making people laugh with our stories. But it’s never easy. Here are a few practical thoughts about how to increase your humour quotient in your writing. I know what you’re thinking. Who are you to tell me…

Do you want to write a screenplay? This post is about the magic of screenwriting and why this may be the perfect place for writers to start. Lights! Camera! Action! [This post is an excerpt taken from our brand-new course, The Script.] Movies will always…

We have written four stories for 2019. That means we still have eight more stories left in the 12 Short Stories Challenge. This was a short one, and after the long story of last month, it was a big change. Submit your fourth short story…

Janet Evanovich is a best-selling American author who was born 22 April 1943. She began her career writing romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall, but she became well-known as the author of the Stephanie Plum series. She has two hundred million books in print worldwide and her books…

Sebastian Faulks is a British author who was born on 20 April 1953. He is best known for his historical novels, which include Birdsong, Charlotte Gray, and The Girl at the Lion d’Or. His latest novel is Paris Echo. Sebastian Faulks was the first literary editor of “The Independent”, and then…

As bright-eyed new screenwriters who have just cracked open a shiny Apple MacBook and installed the latest version of Final Draft, you can’t wait to make your mark as a screenwriter. Reality Before Creativity You sit in your favourite coffee shop with a double almond…

Haikus are rather mysterious as far as poems go. At least, I always thought so and because we spent most of last month counting syllables, I thought we could look at Haikus and keep counting - to 17 as it were. Also, because today is…

Before a meeting starts, you need to let the participants know what will be discussed. You also need to tell them the order in which these items will be discussed. This document is known as the agenda. An agenda lets everyone prepare for the meeting in…

The settings in our memoir must feel real. Readers must be able to visualise that world and see us in our surroundings. If it does not seem real, the book isn’t working. In memoir, we are re-creating a world, and the best way to make…

Guest Post Comedian Brad Upton joked about Millennials being the dumbest people he ever met. Why? They consume energy drinks, which they don’t need, use a debit card for a dollar and forty cents purchase, and don’t even memorize phone numbers. I beg to differ.…